Onion Juice For Alopecia?

Honestly I really cannot fathom blending an onion, straining it, adding it to my hair and sitting for an hour with a plastic cap as if I didn’t just put the other half of the onion into my oxtail dinner.

On the other hand I would also say that I have a high level of sensitivity and understanding for women suffering from alopecia. And truth be told, if I had alopecia I would probably try anything, so bring on the onion!

You see, my mom suffers from alopecia too; hers was brought on from stress trauma early in her life before I was born, but I remember she would try everything to get her hair to grow with not much success.

Needless to say I was very excited to share this with her as I am* to share it with you, so before you chop that whole onion up and add it to something delectable for dinner, save some because you are going to need it for your hair.

Emily what are you talking about, how can an onion help my hair? I thought you would never ask! Let me explain…

Onion juice has been used for centuries to help with thinning hair and grey hair, the juice encourages circulation around the hair follicles which is pretty much what the scalp needs to jump start growth and it has been known to regenerate hair follicles as well.

Additionally the properties of the vegetable are known for killing parasites and germs and some fungi infections all of which can lead to hair loss. The secret is the sulfur*, the mineral is known to encourage hair growth and reverse aging and onion is chalk full of it.

Other foods high in sulfur* include eggs with the yolk, seafood, liver, garlic, broccoli, water cress, and yummy  brussels sprouts all known to to improve hair growth and health.

Not Convinced Yet?

Now I know you still aren’t convinced and who would be with just a bunch of random facts? Well peep this from the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, a teaching hospital in Iraq:

Alopecia areata is a patchy, non-scarring hair loss condition. Any hair-bearing surface may be involved, and different modalities of treatment have been used to induce hair regrowth.

This study was designed to test the effectiveness of topical crude onion juice in the treatment of patchy alopecia areata in comparison with tap water.

The patients were divided into two groups. The first group [onion juice treated] consisted of 23 patients, 16 males (69.5%) and 7 females (30.5%). Their ages ranged between 5-42 years with a mean of 22.7 years.

The second group [control; tap-water-treated] consisted of 15 patients, 8 males (53.3%) and 7 females (46.6%). Their ages ranged between 3-35 years with a mean of 18.3 years.

The two groups were advised to apply the treatment twice daily for two months. Re-growth of terminal coarse hairs started after two weeks of treatment with crude onion juice.

At four weeks, hair re-growth was seen in 17 patients (73.9%), and, at six weeks, the hair re-growth was observed in 20 patients (86.9%) and was significantly higher among males (93.7%) compared to females (71.4%) P<0.0001.

In the tap-water treated-control group, hair re-growth was apparent in only 2 patients (13%) at 8 weeks of treatment with no sex difference.

The present study showed that the use of crude onion juice gave significantly higher results with regard to hair re-growth than did tap water (P<0.0001), and that it can be an effective topical therapy for patchy alopecia areata.

If you suffer from Alopecia and have ran out of options, it would seem a no brainer approach to try. Onion juice cheap and safe provided that you are not allergic.

So How Do You Make Onion Juice?

You can purchase onion juice online and not have to deal with the fuss of making it yourself, but I don’t have to tell you that fresh onion juice is way more potent than the preserved variety.

The easiest way to make fresh onion juice is with a high powered juicer*, you would basically peel the onion drop it down the tube doohickey and collect your juice.

If you do not have a juicer*, a blender* or food processor* will work just as well. Ensure that you cut your onion into chunks for ease of blending and strain the mixture once you are done.

The third and hardest way, depending on how you look at it, would be to grate the onion and again strain the mixture to separate the juice from the rest of the onion. Prepare for some serious tearing up if you pick this method.

Applying the Juice

Once you have extracted the juice, it is time for application! Prepare yourself, this will not smell like strawberries and peaches and crème. Onion as I’m sure you are aware has a strong scent so it can be downright daunting.

At this point you might get a bit hesitant, but do not back out just yet. Keep thinking waist length, waist length, waist length. Or if your goals are a bit more modest then think grow back, grow back, grow back. You get the picture.

Coat your hair and scalp with the onion with each chant making sure you take time to massage your scalp thoroughly with the juice while paying particular attention to the areas affected by alopecia.

Cover your head for maximum absorption and allow about an hour. During that hour try to stay away from your husband or boyfriend, they might not understand and no one wants a breakup story that involves onion juice.

From anecdotal reports, the onion juice mask should be applied every day or every other day for a month to stimulate the follicles enough to start hair sprouting new hair and thereafter, once a week for maintenance.

On the next page we show you ways to create hair masks using onion juice as a base.

What Are The YouTubers Saying?

There is no shortage of videos on YouTube of women and men proclaiming the benefits of onion juice on it’s own or an onion juice based hair mask with ayurvedic herbs etc as an alopecia treatment.

The biggest believer of this technique as far as I can tell is YouTuber howconnie. Check out her video below:

Fancy Onion Based Hair Recipes

Onion Juice and Coconut oil* – Mix enough juice with coconut oil* for shine to help with shedding. Use enough for full coverage, massage into the scalp and then sit under your steamer* for 30 minutes.

Onion Juice and Ayurvedic Powder mix – Pick a conditioning ayurvedic powder like Brahmi* or cassia* or even one that promotes scalp health like Neem powder or a combination of them. Combine the powder and onion juice together to create a thick paste and apply it all over your hair and scalp. The powders make it easier to rinse the onion juice from your hair.

Onion and Beer mix – A beer rinse can do wonders for shine and conditioning and if you add onion juice you will have growth covered too, not to mention even more conditioning. Mix a cup of beer and juice of one onion, leaving the mix to marinate overnight.  The following day massage the concoction in your hair and scalp allowing it to sit for a while so that you can reap the benefits of both mixed together.

Onion and Honey – Honey* is the best humectant on the planet not to mention it has anti fungal properties as well. In this case you might want to keep the onion strained so a blender* or grater is best when preparing the onion. Add honey* to the onion making a mask that you can apply to thinning areas of your hair.

Onion and Greek Yogurt – Add onion juice to a dollop of your favorite plain full fat Greek yogurt making an even more effective protein treatment. The smell will be epic *wink* but the benefits is what we are going for.

Here’s another interesting recipe: